Knock-down display rack



Nov. 17, 1959 w. P. MILNER KNOCK-DOWN DISPLAY RACK Filed March 2'7,195'? FIG; 4

INVENTOR W. P. MILNER ATTOR NEYS KNOCK-DOWN DISPLAY RACK William P.Milner, Chattanooga, Tenn., assignor to American Manufacturing Company,Chattanooga, Tenn.

' Application March 27, 1957, Serial No. 648,942

7 Claims. (Cl. 211-148) This invention relates to the advertising andselling of merchandise, to the nature and character of such advertisingand selling, and to the equipment employed in order to obtain the mosteffective display and with consummation of the sales of productsresulting therefrom.

The invention relates more particularly to equipment employed in thecontaining and display of merchandise and designed to attract attention,to stimulate interest and to impress the public sufficient to cause thepurchase of a product in large volume.

In the sale of goods, wares and merchandise, attention has been given tothe manner of display in order to draw attention and promote sales. Thishas resulted in the creation of display stands racks and other equipmentof various kinds for advantageously displaying the merchandise in amanner intended to attract and retain the attention and to cause thepurchase of the merchandise. Display stands or racks have been used forbottled beverages and the like and many have been made of wire or redstock.

to a heavy load.

It is an object of the invention to overcome the diffrculties andobjections enumerated, and to provide a simple and inexpensive stand orrock of pleasing appearance, of few'and inexpensive parts, accessiblefrom all four sides, which will attract attention and when filled willappear to offer the merchandise to the public as well as a stand or rackwhich can be easily assembled or taken down without the use of nuts,bolts, screws or other fasteners, and without special tools or skill,and one in which the parts are interchangeable, none being solely eitherfor right or left hand use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rack of wire or 'rodstock which can be shipped compactly at the lowest possible freight ratein its class, and which consists primarily of identical multiples ofeach of three parts, thereby simplifying and reducing the time ease andexpense of manufacture and assembly.

A further and important object of the invention is to provide a stand orrack having multiple identical corner posts, side bars and shelves,which is without exposed wire ends or projections and otherwise is ofmaximum safety construction, which can be readily assembled and theparts interlocked without screws or fasteners and with the partsproviding mutual support one for the other and so that theyform a solidsupport for goods to be held.

.' Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent fromthe following description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawing, wherein:

United States Patent ICC Fig. 1 is a perspective illustrating oneapplication of the invention;

Fig. 2, an enlarged fragmentary perspective of one of the corners;

Figs. 3 and 5, similar views of different types of corners.

Fig. 4, a plane view of Fig. 3, showing a reinforcing bracket utilizedtherewith.

Briefly stated, the invention comprises a stand or rack composed ofcorner posts having brackets or supports fixed thereto for the mountingof side bars having parallel edges bent over to provide opposedchannels, and a series of shelves or trays. Each of the posts with itsbrackets or supports is identical with every other, and the same is alsotrue of the side bars and shelves.

In assembling, the corner posts are connected by the side bars whichtelescope over such brackets so that the smooth faces of the side barsface outwardly and channels are at the top and bottom on the interior ofsuch side bars. The shelves are applied and have right angular dependingportions or hooks which extend into the lower channels at opposite sidesof the rack and between the innermost portions of each pair of bracketson the posts at spaced corners of the rack to lock the parts inassembled relation against separation and making it possible to set upand ,take down the stand or rack without fasteners, special tools, orskill.

With continued reference to the drawing the knockdown stand or rack ofthe present invention is of multiple shelf or tier construction andcomprises corner posts 10 having feet 11. Each corner post is providedalong its length with a series of spaced supporting brackets which maybe of wire or rod stock or other construction and each having a pair ofrectangular loop portions 12 and with connecting reduced necks 13 bywhich each is welded or otherwise fixed to the post on which it ismounted.

The posts 10 are joined together by means of side bars 14 each formedfrom a strip of sheet metal with the opposed edges of the stripbent.laterally and downwardly toward each other to provide channels 15,the spacing of the interior of the channels being such as to snuglyreceive the bracket loops 12. The posts with the supporting loops 12will be connected by four side bars 14 at each level, three levels ortiers being illustrated, although two or more may be used, as desired.When the parts are assembled theposts 10 will have their feet 11disposed midway between the supporting loops 12 of each bracket so thatsuch feet will be along substantially diagonal lines bisecting theangles at the corners of the structure.

Shelves are provided each having three main supports 16 and a series,for example, thirteen rods or bars 17 at right angles thereto with theparts welded together. The three main supports 16 have ends orextremities turned downwardly at right angles to provide hooks 18.

When the parts are assembled the posts with the brackets thereon havingthe rectangular loop portions 12 will be connected by the side bars 14which receive such loops in the channels 15. The shelves will besupported by the side bars 14 and the hook ends 18 of the shelves willbe located in the lower channel 15 of the side bars, thus holding theside bars against separation. The depending hook forming ends 18 of thetwo outermost side bars 16 also will be disposed within the lowerportion of the loops 12 so that such loops and the posts on which areall identical, there can be no mixup in assembling.

In the fabrication of the stand or rack of the present invention theparts may be finished in any desired manner; for example they may beplated or painted, the latter permitting variation in color anddecorative effect. Also, the upper ends of the posts may have finishingknobs 19 applied thereto, or, if desired, extension sleeves 20 may beapplied to two of them and a sign 21 supported thereby.

Instead of supporting loops 12, other types of supporting structure maybe employed, as, for example, sheet metal supporting members 22 havingreduced center portions 23 and struck out portions 24 with receivingnotches 25 in which a shelf 28 may be received. The frame of the shelfwill fit into the notches 25 and hold the posts in assembled relation.Additionally, it will be understood that the size of the bars will bedependent upon the use to which they are to be subjected. If desired, anangular reinforcing bracket 26 may be added for strength as shown inFig. 4.

Instead of round corner posts, posts of other configura tion may beemployed, such as for example a post 27 of angle iron and the brackets26 and 27 may be welded or otherwise secured to the supporting brackets22.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that a practical stand or rack isprovided which has been engineered against the public by the absence ofrough projections, wire ends, or the like, which might cause damage toproperty or injury to the person; that the rack of the present inventioninvolves the fewest number of parts, namely posts connected side barsand supporting shelves and when assembled the shelves lock the parts inassembled relation so that a sturdy structure is provided and that, dueto the fact that the posts are identical, the connecting side bars areidentical and the shelves are identical, there can be no mixup ordifficulty in assembling.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes maybe made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scopethereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which isillustrated in the drawing and described in the specification, but onlyas indicated in the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is: v

1. A knock down display rack comprising identical corner posts of rodstock having lower end foot forming portions bent inwardly at rightangles and augularly upward into contact with and secured to said posts,a series of identical wire shelves supported at different levels betweensaid posts, pairs of opposed identical side bars located between saidposts and supporting said shelves, said side bars having upper and loweredges bent reversely upon themselves to provide upper and lowerchannels, identical brackets fixed to said posts and having divergingportions detachably supporting said side bars, said shelves havingconnecting end portions at opposite sides and engageable in the lowerchannels of an opposed pair of said side bars and extending throughopposed diverging portions of the brackets supporting said opposed pairof side bars for locking the parts in assembled relation.

2. A knock down display rack comprising corner posts of rod stock havinglower end foot forming portions bent inwardly at right angles andangularly upward into contact with and secured to said posts, a seriesof wire shelves supported at ditferent levels between said posts, pairsof opposed identical side bars located between said posts and supportingsaid shelves, said side bars having upper and lower edges bent reverselyupon themselves to provide upper and lower channels, brackets fixed tosaid posts and having diverging portions detachably supporting said sidebars, said shelves having connecting end portions at opposite sides andengageable inthe lower channels, of. an opposed pair of said side barsand. ex-

tending through opposed diverging portions of the brackets supportingsaid opposed pair of side barsfor locking the parts in assembledrelation.

3. A knock down display rack comprising identical corner posts of rodstock having lower end foot forming portions, a series of identical wireshelves supported at difierent levels between said posts, pairs ofopposed identical side bars located between said posts and supportingsaid shelves, said side bars having upper and lower edges bent reverselyupon themselves to provide upper and lower channels, identical bracketsfixed to said posts and having diverging portions detachablysupportingsaid side bars, said shelves having connecting end portions atopposite sides and engagable in the lower channels of an opposed pair ofsaid side bars and extending through opposed diverging portions bracketssupporting said opposed pair of side bars for locking the parts inassembled rela tion.

4. A knock down display rack comprising identical corner posts of rodstock having lower end foot forming portionsbent inwardly at rightangles and angularly upward into contact with and secured to said posts,a series of identical wire shelves supported at different levels between said posts, pairs of opposed identical side bars located betweensaid posts and supporting said shelves, said side bars having upper andlower channels, identical brackets fixed to said posts and havingdiverging portions detachably supporting'said side bars, said shelveshaving connecting end portions at opposite sides and engageable in thelower channels of an opposed pair of said side bars and extendingthrough opposed diverging portions of the brackets supporting saidopposed pair of side bars for locking the parts in assembled relation.

5. A display rack comprising corner posts, spaced diverging endedbrackets attached to said corner posts, pairs of opposite side barmembers having opposed "channels removably receiving an end of one ofsaid brackets therein, and shelves having hook portions detachablyengaging a pair of said opposite cross members and preventing separationthereof said shelves including portions detachably engaging opposeddiverging ends of said brackets supporting the pair of said oppositesidebars and holding them against separation, whereby the parts may be heldin assembled relation without auxiliary fasteners.

6. A display rack comprising corner posts, spaced diverging endedbrackets attached to said corner posts, pairs of opposite side barmembers having opposed channels removably receiving an end of one ofsaid brackets therein, and shelves having hook portions detachablyengaging a pair of said opposite cross members and preventing separationthereof said shelves including portions detachably engaging opposeddiverging ends of said brackets supporting the pair of said oppositeside bars and holding them against separation, whereby the parts may beheld in assembled relation without auxiliary fasteners, said cornerposts, brackets, side bars and shelves being identical.

7. A knock down display rack comprising corner posts integral withsupporting members including portions diverging laterally from saidposts, opposed side bars each removably receiving one of said divergingportions of said supporting members Within each end thereof, andvertically spaced shelves supported by said supporting members, saidshelves having connecting portions detachably engaging said supportingmembers holding the side bars in assembled relation with said postsinthe absence of auxiliaryfasteners.

Lamp Aug. 9,1921 Chappory .Apr. 6, 1943

